Reborn as a tycoon in Hong Kong

Lin Baicheng had been listening carefully and did not interrupt Hu Zhiwen.

"It's already mid-March. Over the past three months, the newspaper's operations have not only not improved, but its daily circulation has dropped below 2,000 copies. The losses are getting bigger and bigger, and I can't bear it anymore."

"As for me, I don't have much money, so I can't fill the big hole in the newspaper, so now the newspaper is facing the crisis of bankruptcy."

"At the end of this month, if nothing happens, I will close the newspaper."

"However, if there is even a slight possibility, I still don't want to close the newspaper. This is not only because I like the job of editing and have been doing it for more than ten years, but also because if the newspaper goes bankrupt, my newspaper will definitely not be able to sell as much. price, so I want to save the newspaper.”

"Everyone was thinking of ways to keep the newspaper going. After the final screening, I decided to take a gamble, that is, find a new novel to serialize, and use the novel to maintain the circulation of the newspaper. It would be better if the circulation could be increased. .”

Lin Baicheng knew that when Hu Zhiwen said this, he should be about to say something related to him.

"In the past half month or so, I have been looking for a serialization of the novel, but unfortunately I have not been able to get it done."

Speaking of this, Hu Zhiwen felt helpless: "The reason is very simple. The newspaper is currently operating at a loss, so it can no longer pay the writers."

Hearing this, Lin Baicheng couldn't help but raise his eyebrows. If Hu Zhiwen wanted to prostitute his novel for free and serialize it first and then pay the author, then he would never agree. Who knows when he would receive the money.

Hu Zhiwen could roughly guess what Lin Baicheng was thinking now, so he said: "Lin Sheng, this is the situation. Now I want to serialize your novel, but I don't have the cash royalties to give you, so I need you to take a gamble and take some risks. , I don’t know if you are willing.”

"Editor-in-Chief Hu, please tell me in detail, especially how I will be paid."

After hearing this, Lin Baicheng didn't mind continuing to listen. As long as he doesn't contribute the novel in vain, everything is fine.

"I will not pay Lin Sheng your royalties here. Instead, they will be regarded as investing in my newspaper and obtaining shares in the newspaper."

If you are willing to listen, it means there is still hope. Hu Zhiwen immediately said: "As for the assets of my newspaper, they are not many, only about 100,000 Hong Kong dollars. I can give 10% of the shares to you, Lin Sheng, as manuscript fees. Of course, The prerequisite for all this is that Lin Sheng's novel is not too bad, otherwise I would not be able to take the risk and gamble."

The office space of small newspapers is usually rented, so they do not have many heavy assets. The most valuable assets may be the printing equipment and the daily circulation of the newspaper itself.

"Editor-in-chief Hu, are your assets of 100,000 Hong Kong dollars a net asset? You don't owe money outside, right? Also, if the newspaper's business still doesn't improve after serializing the novel, how much assets will the newspaper have left when it closes? "

Lin Baicheng did not agree or refuse immediately, but asked some questions.

"Of course it's the net worth. You can rest assured about this, Lin Sheng, and the newspaper company doesn't owe money outside. If you're worried about this, Lin Sheng, you can write it into the contract when we sign the contract after we're both willing to cooperate."

Hu Zhiwen answered one by one, and then said: "As for the assets that can be left after the newspaper is closed, if there is no large-scale printing of newspapers, 70,000 to 80,000 Hong Kong dollars can still be left. Employees will need a sum of money for severance pay. , so it costs 20,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars.”

"I am still willing to cooperate, but the terms of cooperation need to be discussed again."

Lin Baicheng just pondered for a moment before making a choice. However, he did not immediately put forward conditions, but took out the manuscript: "Editor Hu, this is the first volume of my novel. Please read the manuscript. If If you like my novel and are willing to serialize it, it won’t be too late for us to discuss it.”

"That's fine."

Hu Zhiwen didn't say much and took the manuscript over. No matter what the conditions are, it won't be too late to wait until he is willing to serialize the novel. Otherwise, no matter how much he says now, if he is not satisfied with the novel, it will be nonsense.

As for why he said so much before, it was mainly to let Lin Baicheng know what the situation was like and whether he was still willing to cooperate without cash royalties. If you are unwilling to cooperate, then there is no need to read the content of the novel.

Lin Baicheng didn't mind the cooperation method proposed by Hu Zhiwen. If the novel can revive the newspaper from the ashes, then the shares he received will definitely be more valuable; if the newspaper still sells out after serializing the novel, Lin Baicheng will still be able to get the corresponding Hong Kong dollars for the shares after the newspaper is sold.

But what dissatisfied Lin Baicheng was that the shares were too small. Based on the current newspaper assets, they were only worth 10,000 Hong Kong dollars.

In the past week, although Lin Baicheng had not reached an agreement with other newspapers, he did find out about the manuscript fee for newcomers, which was about 20-30 Hong Kong dollars per thousand words. In other words, the manuscript fee for a one-million-word novel is about 20,000 to 30,000 Hong Kong dollars.

As for the "Wind and Cloud" novel, Lin Baicheng estimated that the first completed version will have about two million words. In other words, the manuscript fee for this novel is about 50,000 Hong Kong dollars.

There is no way to get the money right away, and it has shrunk by one-fifth now. It will shrink even more when the newspaper goes bankrupt. How can Lin Baicheng be satisfied?

One thing Lin Baicheng knew very well was that after the novel was serialized in Star Daily, if the newspaper closed down, even if the serialization had not been completed, other newspapers would definitely not be willing to continue serializing it in the future. After all, if the novel was really popular, Star Daily would not have closed down.

In other words, if the newspaper company closes down, all Lin Baicheng can get in the end is just a few thousand Hong Kong dollars. The price is that the "Wind and Cloud" novel has no future.

Of course, if the "Wind and Cloud" novel becomes a hit and the newspaper not only survives but also increases its circulation, then the shares will be even more valuable. Also, there are various copyrights brought about by the novel's popularity. It is certain to make a lot of money.

In this way, Lin Baicheng avoided the trouble of looking for serialized novels in newspapers. After more than a week, he already knew that with his age and education, it would be very difficult to find a newspaper willing to serialize his novels, and it was hard to say whether he could even find it.

This obviously involves a 'gamble' element. In the end, it depends on whether it is worth it. In Lin Baicheng's opinion, 10% of the shares is not worth it. He needs more shares.

Hu Zhiwen read it for nearly an hour, which was good news for Lin Baicheng. At least Hu Zhiwen didn't think his novel was bad, otherwise he would have given the answer after reading it for a few minutes.

And Hu Zhiwen is satisfied with Lin Baicheng's novel, which means that the two parties have a basis for cooperation and there is still room for discussion.

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